“Help!” Vekrem called, panic clear in his shrill voice.

I’ll admit it, I wanted to stay and hide. But, that small piece of me, the one who still longed to be some sort of hero from out of a comic book; a part most of us kill as we get older, forced me to move my legs.

I shouldered the door open, feeling the wood crack from the pressure of my shove as I entered the clearing. Time slowed suddenly, and my body moved on its own as I stepped to the side. Just then, a large pointed stick whizzed by my head through the air, brushing against my hair, and ultimately striking a mushroom which hissed as it deflated, as if it were filled with hot-air.

Turning towards my attacker, I had to stifle a laugh. Around four feet tall, a red-tailed… something, stood, wearing leather armor, as if they were going to war. However, what was actually terrifying was its companion; a large beast that reminded me of a Hyena. Its fur was colorful, and it had small fungal abrasions poking from the skin, like little spikes or scales.

“Take the human,” the red-tailed humanoid said, grabbing a handful of fur from his hyena-like mount and launching herself onto its back. “Kill the rat!”

A few others fell into the clearing, each wielding a unique and crude weapon. Some had pointy sticks, some rocks, and some came bare-knuckled, as if they looked to scrap. I’ll be honest, it looked as if the furry oompa-loompa gang had come to brawl, and I wondered if Vekrem had stolen some of their chocolate to elicit such a response.

The hyena-like creature roared, spittle spewing from its open maw. All the humor I found in the situation was stolen by that reverberating sound. Walking behind me, desperate for a weapon, I pulled the wooden spear from the depths of the deflated mushroom. As it came out, a dark, sticky substance came with it, falling to the ground and coating the edge of the spear. I pointed it at the leader of the furry gang.

Surprisingly, looking at my weapon, she appeared worried, her eyes darting back and forth between mine and the tip of my weapon. But, before anything else was said, one particularly brave red-tail stepped forward, cracking his knuckles and then his neck. He sighed out audibly, as if he’d not a care in the world.

I turned to face the new foe. “How about we all calm down?”

He spit on the ground, baring sharp teeth. “You think that scares me, human? This matter doesn’t concern you. Just accept that you’ll now be the property of the Redore clan, and save your own life.” Pointing to Vekrem, he added, “Don’t throw it away for… them.”

I aimed the tip forward, making my intention known. “I don’t belong to anyone.”

He grunted in response, and then ran forward, bobbing and weaving left to right so quickly that I was barely able to keep up. I thrust downward with the spear, but missed, his tiny, yet sharp claws raking the inside of my leg as he passed by. I spun, spear extended, but the red-tail merely stepped out of the way.

I felt hot blood run down my pants leg, but the red-tail brawler was relentless, striking again and again. This time, my body took over and I dodged the swipes, spinning the spear in my hand as if, somehow, I knew what I was doing. The fight went that way for a time, like an elaborate dance between us, neither of us able to land a strike on the other.

The red-tail looked to be getting tired, his breathing heavy, the fur on his face matted with, what I assumed, was sweat. Looking around, the other red-tails appeared stunned by the fight, as if they couldn’t believe that I, a mere human, could keep up.

Deciding this was the best time to push my advantage, I attacked, striking wildly with the tip of the spear. The red-tail managed to dodge most of the blows—

Most.

I felt the spear tear flesh as it glanced off his forearm, a small trail of red blood running down the length of his arm and falling to the floor of the clearing, disappearing into the earth just as quickly.

“No…” the leader said, a deep sadness tainting her words. Looking at her, she appeared to be tearing up. “Kech!” The red-tail leader jumped down from the hyena-like creature, running to their ally as she went to one knee.

“Bah,” Kech groaned, holding the wound tightly with one hand. “It’s nothing. I can’t believe a human can move like that.”

“Let me see!” She demanded, moving her allies hand and gasping at the sight. Where the wound had been, an illuminescent rot seemed to take hold, spreading rapidly from the wound and creeping across the red-tails arm. She stammered out, holding her own hands to her mouth as she said, “Radiant Rot…”

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“Radiant Rot?” I repeated, turning towards Vekrem who looked on at the scene horrified. Seeing his expression, I dropped the spear to the ground with a clatter, taking a step away from it. “What is that?”

“A curse…” Vekrem replied, his hands shaking as he moved forward to stand near my side. The red-tails, so stunned, didn’t even try to stop him. “A plague on this world.” He turned towards me desperately, grabbing the front of my shirt. “I-I-I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. I have it here for study only—I need it to study!” Vekrem continued on, stammering at an incredible pace, far too fast for me to understand. I held his shoulders, forcing him to calm, and he added, “We need to help him! You there, Chitik, I’ll help you—if you still have desires to live.”

The wounded Chitik looked as if he would protest, but the leader stepped forward in his stead, asking, “Are you an alchemist of some sort? What do you mean help?” She could barely say the words through gasping breaths.

“Indeed, I am,” Vekrem replied, putting on a cool smile. “And I can concoct a salve that’ll slow the spread. I need but a moment. Inside, hurry, but just the two of you. Your friends will need to wait outside.” He turned to me. “Ike, guard the door… but perhaps not with the stick this time.”

“I’ll just cut it off,” the wounded Chitik said suddenly, fingering a worn looking, crude knife at his hip.

The leader pushed the wounded red-tail’s hand from his knife. “It wouldn’t work,” she said. “Once the rot takes hold, the spores are inside you. Wherever you cut, the rot would grow back and start over from there. It’s best if we leave it to the alchemist.”

Kech reached up, grabbing her leather armor. “But he’s a Rodrent!”

She grasped his hand in return. “And your only means of survival! I learned long ago that when your back is against the wall, you accept any aid you can.” Turning to stare up at Vekrem, she added, “Even from them.”

Finally, Kech nodded, standing with the leader's help.

She looked up at Vekrem, and said, “There is no need for my people to stay.” She turned to her cohorts. “Head back, and we’ll catch up to you afterwards. Bring word to prepare a bed and healers, even if this alchemist is able to hold off the rot, I’ll still want it to be looked at. Go!”

The others leaped to obey, scurrying back into the forest, the hyena-like creature following after.

Vekrem nodded in approval “Come Inside, quickly.”

***

I stood outside waiting, the sounds of muddled speaking coming from the small hut. I reached out to Dragon who still silently slumbered in the back of my mind. He roused for a moment, but quickly succumbed back to sleep.

“Ike!” I heard Vekrem call out with some urgency.

I turned, going into the small hut. There, on the bed of mushrooms, the wounded Red-tail, Kech, laid. There were black lines which were beginning to sprout small spores of mushrooms along the trail of the rot. He struggled in pain, his eyes opening and closing rapidly, as if he didn't want to see the spread, but couldn’t help himself but look. Like someone witnessing a train wreck.

I felt sudden shame for having been the one to do this.

“Ike,” Vekrem repeated, drawing me back from quiet contemplation. “Help hold him down.”

“Step away!” the leader hissed, her tail becoming large and bushy. Threatening. “You will not put your filthy human hands on him. Not after what you’ve done.”

“Me?” I replied incredulously. “You tried to kill Vekrem. Tried to enslave me. You’re lucky his ass is still alive.”

The leader stared back at me with hate filled eyes. “Humans are property, why does it matter who’s property?”

I opened my mouth to retort, but Vekrem interrupted, addressing the leader. “We can keep arguing, as we’ve done for decades. Or, I can help you, and your friend may yet live. Your choice.”

The leader scoffed, but moved to one side, allowing me to press down on the injured red-tail. His eyes had rolled back into his head and he appeared unconscious, his body convulsing and squirming in agony.

“This should help,” Vekrem said calmly, spreading a small dollop of glowing medicine on the wound. Surprisingly, it didn’t take long to react. The glowing white salve grew into a small mushroom, and as it grew, the black substance seemed to flow from the red-tails wound and into it, turning the white-cap black. When the rot had subsided from the red-tail’s arm, Vekrem pulled out a knife.

It looked sharp.

The leader reached out, stilling his hand. “What are you doing?” She asked, worry lines furrowing her face, and her tail tucked between her legs.

“What’s it look like?” Vekrem replied. “It needs to be severed, and the root ripped out.” Her eyes glanced between Vekrem’s and the mushroom which seemed to be growing at an incredible rate. “It’s now or never.”

The leader let go, saying in a sullen voice. “Do it.”

Deftly, and wasting no time, Vekrem plunged the knife into the red-tails arm, his body thrashing wildly at the pain. I held him down as firmly as I dared, but that wild thrashing became a flurry, his claws raking up and down my hand and forearms. Still, undaunted, Vekrem pushed on, cutting around the mushroom, and then, sticking the tip of the blade in, pulling back, and popping out the stem.

Blood poured from the wound, and the leader moved to press her hands against it.

Vekrem, already prepared, put another salve onto the wound. “Push down, hard,” he instructed. “It’ll hurt, but the bleeding will stop faster.”

Following hsi directions, she nodded, pressing firmly until the salve hardened, becoming dark, the color of the red-tails exposed skin under that red fur. She pulled back after a moment, and the salve had completely hardened, almost imperceptible to the injured red-tails natural skin color.

For some reason, I breathed a sigh of relief, glad I hadn’t killed the red-tail.

The injured Chitik breathing equalized, becoming soft and quiet, as opposed to quick and raspy. The leader leaned back, sitting on the floor, breathing quite heavily herself. Looking up at Vekrem, she asked. “Why did you help us?”